05 March 2023 , 12:56
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Rishi Sunak’s “half-baked” plans to tackle illegal immigration will punish desperate refugees rather than criminal gangs, it has been warned.
Ministers will unveil legislation next week banning people who cross the Channel on small boats from making asylum claims here.
But critics have warned the proposals will bring chaos while failing to end the dangerous crossings.
Mr Sunak has vowed to put an end to "immoral" illegal migration, while Home Secretary Suella Braverman said "enough is enough".
A proposed new law would see a duty placed on the Home Secretary to remove "as soon as reasonably practicable" anyone who arrives on a small boat, either to Rwanda or a "safe third country".
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Arrivals will also be prevented from claiming asylum while in the UK, with plans also to ban them from returning once removed.
Jonathan Ashworth accused ministers of failing to stop smuggling gangs (PA)Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth cast doubt on whether the government’s latest plans to change the law will tackle the problem of dangerous Channel crossings.
The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary said: “We were told in the past that they've got plans and legislation that was going to deal with this problem and their promises came to nothing.
"Actually, we've seen more boat crossings and the criminal gangs getting away with more and more.”
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "The Conservatives are responsible for an abysmal failure to tackle the huge increase in dangerous small boat crossings and the criminal gangs who are putting lives at risk and undermining border security.
“Ministers have made countless claims and promises yet the facts show their last law badly failed and made things worse. Instead of learning lessons, it looks like they are still recycling the same rhetoric and failure.
“Labour is calling urgently for a major new cross-border police unit to go after the criminal gangs, fast track asylum decisions and returns, and a new agreement with France and Belgium that can stop the dangerous crossings.”
Almost 3,000 people have already arrived across the Channel this year (AFP via Getty Images)Alistair Carmichael of the Liberal Democrat said: "This is another half baked plan that will punish the victims of human trafficking instead of the evil gangs who profit from these crossings.
"We all want to see these dangerous crossings stop, but there are currently no safe and legal routes for asylum seekers. Creating these needs to be the priority.
The latest Home Office figures show 2,950 migrants have crossed the Channel already this year.
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Today it emerged deportation flights to Rwanda, which are central to the plan, may not happen until March 2024.
The controversial scheme has been mired in legal challenges and so far no planes have departed.
Advice provided to the Home Office by the Government Legal Service has warned it is "most likely" it will be tied up in the courts for more than a year.
Yvette Cooper accused the Tories of recycling old ideas (Getty Images)It came as trade unions warned that ministers are “complicit” in far-right organised violence and intimidation against refugees.
Protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers have been held in recent weeks.
In a statement organised by the Fire Brigades Union, the leaders of 14 unions said "the answer is solidarity, not scapegoating" to help deprived refugee communities.
"The Government is complicit in these attacks,” they warned. “The Rwanda policy does not make sense as a means of stopping small boat crossings - and it is failing on its own terms - but it fits with a long-running campaign of rhetoric and demonisation.
"Anti-migrant politics are an attempt to divide working class people against each other."
Signatories included Matt Wrack of the FBU, Unison president Andrea Egan, Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney of the National Education Union and Mick Lynch of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union.
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